ignition problem

my 88 4.2 has recently died. I was a block away from home when the car slowly stopped running. I believe it is problem with the ignition. Turning the key now does nothing, no noises at all. When i opened the hood i could smell a burning smell and saw smoke coming from the area between the battery and the engine. i could not find where the smoke was coming from, there are no obvious burn wires anywhere. The battery is not dead. I believe the car is already on the nutter modification. I checked the wires going from the distributor to the ignition modular and they both seem ok. I also check the green wire from the coil to the modular, also ok. I traced another wire from the coil which is spliced to about four other wires(not my doing). Two of the wires go to the computer thing at the top right corner of the chassis when facing towards the car. the other two go into a jumble of wires which go into the car behind the dashboard. I traced these two as best i can but they dont seem to go anywhere near the key. The other two that are connected to the computer im at a lost for. I know something was burning where i said, but do not know of any ignition parts that are over there. the starter is new, and the voltage to it is ok. The coil is also new.

any help is appreciated

88 4.2 yj with carter bbd and manual transmission
Reply to
88yj
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There is an ignition relay on the firewall beside the battery. Just follow the smaller battery + wire to it I believe.

At this junction, there will be a couple more loop connectors that feed the fuse links for the harness. The fuse links are about 8" long with soft rubber insulation and join the harness in a fat plastic black crimp connection.

I would be suspecting one of these fuse links might have been the smoke. You can feel them and pull on them to see if one is fried or broken.

The relay itself might have blown also. It is the starter control.

You should check these and get back to us about which circuit fried 'or not' so we or I at least can give you some more guesses.

Common YJ short points are the choke wire if you went manual or even not, check the wire at the exhaust manifold end closest to the firewall for a melt. The other common one is the 4WD light where it can touch the front exhaust crossover pipe. Then the alternator can also short out taking out the fuse link.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 'New' frame in the works for '08. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build Photos:
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88yj wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

i checked the relay you pointed out and there is one connecter that is missing a wire. It is at the 11 oclock position and also points outward towards the front bumper a little bit. all others look good. Can you tell me what this connector should be going to and if it is source of my problem? thanks

Reply to
88yj

Well... I own an 86 CJ7 so I can't go look, but if it blew out a fuse link totally like you describe, something has a dead short. The other end of that wire should be down there someplace.....

I think I would trace the alternator main read wire back and see if that might be the other end. The ignition power is also tagged to that circuit.

The 'best' by far book for your 4.2 engine compartment wiring is the Haynes CJ book. Yours is almost identical except for a couple wire colours. I have rewired several CJ's and 4.2 YJ's using it with perfect success.

Mike

Oh, by the by, this newsgroup has been a top posting one for at least the last ten years because it is/was a tech group mostly so folks want to see the latest results for the posted problem, rather than have to read all through the fixes various sometimes painful stages every time they click on the next post in line.

Reply to
Mike Romain

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